


12 Days on Denmark Street

by ZoeSong



Category: C.B. Strike, Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith, Strike (TV 2017)
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:29:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28313100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoeSong/pseuds/ZoeSong
Summary: “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me….”Cormoran gets into the holiday spirit for Robin.
Relationships: Robin Ellacott/Cormoran Strike
Comments: 14
Kudos: 34





	12 Days on Denmark Street

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mcclinds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcclinds/gifts).



> A variation on the “12 Days of Christmas,” Cormoran style. Mostly fluffy holiday stuff. See notes at the end.
> 
> Thanks to Swimmingfox, LulaIsAKitten, and Mcclinds for their help and advice on this piece. 
> 
> And to my husband, who 30 years ago proposed to me on Christmas Eve.

~~

_The First Day_ – December 14th

When Robin arrived at the office in the morning, she found a little gift-wrapped box on her desk. It appeared to be a Christmas present. Strike was in his chair, grinning at her. 

She smiled back, wondering why he seemed so pleased with himself. “What’s this?”

“A present. For you. Open it.”

“But it’s too early for Christmas.”

“No, it’s not, and it’s only something small that I thought you’d like. Something you should have before Christmas. Go on, open it.”

So Robin opened it. And inside she found a lovely little brooch with a bird sitting on a branch.

“I saw that in a shop window, and it reminded me of the type of brooch you sometimes wear on your scarves or coat lapel. It just somehow looked like you.”

“Aww, that’s very sweet. I think…I think it’s a partridge in a pear tree – you know, like in the song.”

“Exactly. Which is why I thought you should have it early.”

“Well, thank you. I love it.” She reached up and kissed him on the cheek, since they were in the office, after all, then she went out to the coat rack and put it on her coat lapel, almost wishing she could go out again and enjoy wearing Cormoran’s gift. But for the rest of the morning, as she passed her coat on the coat rack going back and forth between the inner and outer office, she took in the pretty brooch and got a little happy feeling inside.

~~

_The Second Day_ – December 15th

The next morning, Robin awoke and padded to the bathroom, trying not to awaken Cormoran. On the counter, she spotted two little wrapped packages. She took care of business, then took the packages and brought them out to the main room. Cormoran was lying awake, grinning at her. 

“More presents?”

“Yup. Just something small. Go on, open them.”

Robin gave him a curious look, then unwrapped the first small box. It was a Dove beauty bar. It was the kind she used, but in a pink tone. “Very nice – just the kind I use.” 

“And the other one.”

She opened it too, and found it to be a second bar of the same soap. “Two?” She glanced down at the two doves imprinted on the photos of the soaps and it hit her. “Two Turtle Doves?”

“Right in one. Or two, rather. From the song. I know it doesn’t match the lyrics perfectly, but that’s kind of the point. Each day you’ll get something that relates to the lyrics in some way, though it may often be stretching it a bit.”

“That’s so cute. And thoughtful. What gave you the idea?”

Cormoran grinned at her again. “It’s that Christmas stuff coming out so damned early! I was at Marks and Spencer and spotted the brooch, so that started it, and then that silly song got stuck in my head, so I got to thinking that it would be nice to give you a little present every day, just things that I thought you’d like. But then I thought it would be fun to see if I could relate them to the lyrics. So I looked them all up and brainstormed how to work in some aspect of each one.”

Robin was touched – and impressed. “But you hate shopping.”

“Yeah, generally, but it turns out I don’t hate shopping online – or at least, I don’t hate shopping for you.”

“Aww, Cormoran.”

“And after all, it did require a bit of detective work.”

“Very clever and very sweet. Thank you.” Setting aside the soaps, Robin leaned over the bed to give him a kiss.

~~

_The Third Day_ – December 16th

It was raining cats and dogs, and Robin was late back from an early morning surveillance. As she shook off her coat to hang it up, Pat drew her attention to a little gift bag at the edge of her desk. “The boss told me to make sure you got this when you returned. He will be out the rest of the day, you know.”

“Yes, I do know. How thoughtful.” She took the shiny bag and undid the little pull-strings at the top. Inside, wrapped in gold tissue were three little gold French horn ornaments. “Hmm, not quite three French hens, but French horns are close enough.” She turned to Pat. “Shall we put them on the office tree?”

Pat took the little gold baubles and found spots for them on the little tree they’d perched on top of a file cabinet. “Very nice. The boss has good taste.”

Robin smiled. 

~~

_The Fourth day_ – December 17th

It was late when Robin and Cormoran finally made it back to the office. Each had been at opposite ends of the city on cases, and Robin had nearly decided to go straight back to her flat after a long day. But Cormoran had texted her to meet him at the office, so either he had business, or he wanted to give her the next present.

Sure enough, as soon as she’d walked through the door, Cormoran beckoned her into the inner office, and handed her a small rectangular box. 

Opening it, Robin found a slim, shiny silver case, about the size that might hold a credit card. It had an elegant blackbird on the cover. Inside she found four of her own business cards. “Very nice, thanks. But I don’t quite get the connection.”

“Well, it’s a stretch. ‘Calling birds’ made me think of the old-fashioned ‘calling cards’ that people used to use, and that got me to business cards. I recalled that you said you didn’t like to pull out your purse to get out a card for a client, so I thought you could use a nice card case. So then I was looking for one with four birds on it. No such luck, but when I’d looked up the line of the song, it said sometimes the line read ‘four _colly_ birds,’ which are blackbirds, so I picked one with a blackbird.”

“Goodness! You went to a lot of thought and trouble. And it is a very nice case – just what I needed!” She immediately tucked the case into her bag before turning back to Cormoran and planting a kiss on his cheek. Perhaps she wouldn’t go right home after all.

~~

_The Fifth Day_ – December 18th

It was lunch time when Robin met up with Strike at a pub near where their afternoon client had asked to meet them. Cormoran pulled a square box out of his coat pocket. “Happy fifth day of Christmas.” 

“You know, it’s not _really_ the fifth day of Christmas….”

“I know. Tell me that you just looked that up.”

“I did. And I’m not complaining – this is great fun, guessing what you’ll do next.”

“Well, this one isn’t so clever.”

Robin slipped off the box lid, which came already decorated, and inside was a wrap bracelet. It was divided into five strips of embossed and be-jeweled leather, with rhinestones and gold and silver accents. It wasn’t her usual style, and she gave Cormoran a long, appraising look. “This looks like something that Bobbi Cunliffe would wear.”

A sly smile quirked across Cormoran’s lips. “Might be. And the clerk said you could wear it as a choker or a cuff bracelet, so take your pick.”

Robin took it out of its box and examined it. “Hmm, I will have to try it both ways.” It wouldn’t fit well under her long sleeves, so she put it back in its box. She flashed him a mischievous grin. “I might have to try on some of Bobbi’s clothes to see what it goes with. I may need help deciding.”

Strike’s eyes lit up. “I’ll be there.” 

~~

_The Sixth Day_ – December 19th

Strike had stayed over at Robin’s the night before, so Robin wasn’t expecting her sixth present until late in the day. But Strike had darted up the stairs to his place to change his shirt before meeting with their first client, and he returned with a rectangular gift bag. It was all gold, with gold tissue paper peeking out.

He started to hand it to Robin, but held back slightly for a moment. “Now, just know that I had help with this one.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Just wait.” He handed her the bag.

Robin reached inside the bag and her fingers closed around a very round object. She pulled it out and unwrapped it, and discovered a shiny gold egg. “Ooh, pretty.” She turned it around to read the printing. It contained an egg shell mask cream. “Face cream? Think I’m getting old and wrinkled?” She hid her urge to laugh. 

“No – God, no, you’re gorgeous.” Cormoran looked pained. 

“Thank you,” she said in a carefully stern voice.

He rushed to explain. “It was Ilsa – she said this would be perfect, that she swears by it. That you’d like it.” 

Robin finally laughed. She’d enjoying seeing him squirm, but decided now to put him out of his misery. “I know, don’t worry. She has mentioned it before – says it’s never too early for a woman to take care of her skin.”

Cormoran was visibly relieved. 

“But aren’t you mixing up your folklore?” Robin teased, “This is more like ‘The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg.’”

Cormoran chuckled. “Yes, it is, and I was counting on you to make that connection.” 

“Well, I will try it – and if nothing else, it’s a pretty little container. It will look nice under the tree.” She gave him a hug. “Thanks.”

~~

_The Seventh Day_ – December 20th

Robin had stayed over with Cormoran, as they had a very early morning, and she was in the kitchen puttering around with the tea and toast when Cormoran came in. 

“Close your eyes.”

Robin obeyed. 

“I didn’t have time to wrap this one, so I thought I’d just put it on you.”

“Alright.”

His arms came around her gently, and he slid something over her head so that a strap rested around the back of her neck, then he pulled some straps around her to tie at the back of her waist. 

“Voila!”

Robin opened her eyes and glanced down the front of her. It was a chef’s style apron in a pale pink print with swans swimming all over it. “It’s so cute! Truly ‘seven swans a-swimming.’”

“Might be a few more than that. But yeah, that’s the idea. And that you can stop worrying about messing up your work clothes when we’re having breakfast or lunch up here.”

“Aww, it’s perfect.” 

Just then the toast popped up, startling them both. Robin giggled and Strike hugged her close. 

~~

_The Eighth Day_ – December 21st

Robin had just returned home after a long day of surveillance when her phone vibrated. It was Strike. 

**CS: Are you free? Thought I’d drop something by.**

**RE: Yes, just got in.**

She smiled to herself, wondering what the eighth-day item was and why he felt it necessary to drop it by. She headed down to the door, letting Strike in and delivering a brief peck on the lips as he entered. 

“You didn’t have to come all this way. It could have waited until tomorrow.”

“No, thought you might enjoy having it tonight. And I was on my way out for my overnight watch, so it was no problem.” He pulled her in for a real kiss. “I hate these days when we can barely see each other.”

“I know. We will have to get more creative with the rota, won’t we?”

“We will. Definitely.” He handed her a white bag with sparkles on it, and done up completely in snowy white ribbons and tissue. “Anyway, here it is.”

The bag was a bit heavier than any of the other things he’d given her, as if there was a bottle inside. But it was smaller and squatter than a bottle of wine, so it couldn’t be that. She pulled out the tissue-clad bundle and unwrapped a miniature milk can, filled with milk bath powder. “Very clever.”

“Well, I can’t take all the credit — Ilsa suggested this one. I was going with milk chocolate, but she cued me in on this, which is much better. And I loved what it said on the website, that it was a way ‘to unwind into a world of indulgence and pampering.’ Sounded perfect after a long day of following a mark, especially since you have mentioned how much you enjoy taking a tub bath.”

“It is perfect, thanks. I think I’ll use it right now.” She gave him a cheeky look and he groaned as he thought of her naked in the bath upstairs while he had to go out on surveillance. 

They _definitely_ needed to work on that rota. 

~~

_The Nineth and Tenth Days_ – December 22nd and 23rd

The rota didn’t get adjusted that day or the next, and Strike knew why.

But it happened that they had time for dinner together that night, and since Strike had decided to give the nineth and tenth presents at the same time, he waited as late as he could to do so.

After his favorite pub meal, he reached into his jacket pocket and slipped out an envelope. It was decorated in fancy gold embossing.

Robin took it with raised eyebrows. What could be in an envelope? Perhaps he had written her something – a poem? But no, there was a smaller inner envelope. She gasped. It had the image of the advertising she’d seen in the Tube for the ballet. “Oh, Cormoran, ‘Swan Lake,’ really?”

“Yup.”

She opened the inner envelope and found – one ticket. “Am I going by myself?”

He laughed, “Well, today is ‘Nine ladies dancing’ – ‘ten lords a-leaping’ isn’t until tomorrow.’” But he reached into his pocket again, pulling out a matching envelope, which he handed her. “So that one’s yours and this one’s mine. I couldn’t think of what else to do for ‘ten lords a-leaping’ so I thought a posh night out – dinner and the ballet – would work for both days.”

“It’s perfect! You know I have been wanting to see it.” She had never actually been to a professional ballet. “Thank you so much.” She leaned across the table to meet his kiss, then pulled back to sit smiling warmly at him. 

Cormoran sat back, satisfied at the result of his efforts. Just two more days to go. 

There were butterflies in his stomach at the thought of his twelfth-day gift. 

~~

_The Eleventh Day – December 24th_

Robin hadn’t been expecting anything more than the wonderful dinner-date to the ballet, which was coming up in January. It would be just the thing to dispel the post-holidays blues that she usually got, although she suspected that this year might be different. During the past year it seemed that her work life and home life had really fallen into place. A year of working at her chosen career without anyone criticizing her for the daily responsibilities it entailed, and nearly a year of being together with Cormoran – a relationship that seemed only to grow more comfortable as they realized their innate compatibility – had made the issues that had nagged her all the year before melt away. 

But when she walked into the office that morning, there was an oversized green envelope lying on her desk. Cormoran was out, but a sticky note indicated that she should go ahead and open it. Inside was a printed playlist of music downloads, all flute-centered. The first was called, “Bath Spa (Oriental Flute Music) Wellness Sounds Relaxation Paradise” and another sticky note from Cormoran: “To go with your milk bath. Enjoy!”

Smiling, Robin checked her phone and found that an email announced the gift of the 11 songs that Cormoran had chosen. She clicked on the link and loaded the songs onto her phone. Taking out her headphones, she listened to the playlist as she read through the rest of her mail. After listening to the fourth one, which she particularly liked, she texted Cormoran a selfie of herself with her headphones on and a thumbs up.

A few moments later a text came through with a grinning emoji, followed by “See you tonight!”

They were off for a few days for the holidays, and were due to go to Lucy’s for Christmas dinner the following day. Robin had begged off from going to Masham this year, having gone the previous year despite her vow not to, and having been for an extended visit during the summer this year. While she’d met Cormoran’s family during a whirlwind visit to Cornwall in the spring, this was the first holiday she’d spend with them. Ted would be there, and she looked forward to getting to know him better. 

At the end of the day, Robin and Cormoran had just finished a takeaway meal and he and Robin were about to tackle the rest of the wrapping of the profusion of presents she and Cormoran would be hauling over to his sister’s house. Robin had done most of the shopping, to Cormoran’s relief, and in response he’d been all the more magnanimous with the number of presents to shower the kids with. It was probably the first time since he was a child that he’d felt more like Santa Claus than Scrooge.

But now it wasn’t either of those characters that he had to emulate. Now he had to gather the courage to do what he’d been plotting vaguely for nearly a year. 

Cormoran had decided that this year he was going to go all out to make Christmas special. It had been the happiest year of his life, so far, because Robin was in it completely. He’d been much more careful about giving her thoughtful gifts for the holidays this past year, but since they’d become a couple, shortly after a Valentine’s Day that they’d spent carefully avoiding the question of their deepening feelings, he’d become more and more convinced that they belonged together long term.

Robin was laying out the wrapping paper on the table when Strike interrupted her. “Will you hold off on that and come over here, please?”

He went over to the little tree that she’d put up by the window, the first Christmas tree that he’d ever had in this place. He had to admit that it lent his dreary little flat a little bit of festiveness, which he hoped would help him say the right things to Robin now. He retrieved the little bag which held the gift on which so much depended.

Robin looked at him with surprise, “But you’ve already given me today’s gift.” She was saving her gift to him for tomorrow, when they were with his family. Maybe she should give it to him now. 

“I know, but I want to give you this one tonight, while we are alone.”

Robin’s eyes widened, and Cormoran felt his stomach do a somersault as he handed her the little gold fabric gift bag.

Robin took it with a sense of mounting expectation, and noticed that it had little drums all over it. 

“Drum roll, please,” Cormoran joked, aware that he was trying to break the tension that he’d sought to create with all of his gifts.

She loosened the strings of the little gold bag and saw that inside there was a single little nutcracker drummer whose drum formed the shape of an open box. Probably something to put holiday treats in. But inside this one was another box. A very special sort of box. Her heart was in her throat. 

It was a ring box.

It looked strangely worn, so she tried to tamp down her rising expectation. And as she set aside the bag and the little drummer box, and began to open the ring box, Cormoran stopped her.

“Before you open it, I have something to say.” He took her hands in his, ring box and all, and spoke with great feeling.

“Robin, for a long time I thought I was broken, that I couldn’t love a woman properly. And I had come to think that I wasn’t the marrying kind. But I’ve come to realize that I just hadn’t found the right woman. You – my amazing, brilliant, beautiful Robin – are the right woman. Robin, will you marry me?”

Robin’s eyes had clouded with tears and she had become so choked up that she couldn’t speak. So she gently pulled her hands from his and simply put her arms around his neck, drawing him to her. He folded his arms around her, and they embraced in the way he’d wished they could so long ago on that staircase in Yorkshire.

He felt a deep contentment, but then realized something. “Hey,” he said gently, pulling away slightly, bringing his hand up under her chin to turn her face to his, seeing the emotion in her eyes, “You haven’t actually answered. Do I need to be worried?”

She shook her head, her eyes streaming, but her face beaming, “No…I mean, yes, of course I’ll marry you,” and she reached up to kiss him properly.

They rested in each other’s arms for a little while, reveling in the joy they’d given each other. But then he remembered the box, which she’d been clutching in her left hand. He took it from her, cradling it, but not yet opening it.

“So, there’s a story behind this…. I confided to Ted that I was going to ask you, and was debating about whether to ask without a ring and then let you pick out what you wanted, or to surprise you, and he suggested this. And he understands if you would prefer your own. Either way, he wants you to have it.”

Robin looked at him quizzically. 

Cormoran cracked open the worn, velveted ring box, revealing a channel-set, very old-fashioned pearl ring set in rose gold.

Robin ran her index finger over the smooth row of pearls. “It’s so pretty – so unusual. It almost looks Victorian.” 

“Yeah, it was Joan’s.”

“Oh!” Her face crumpled again, and before she could say anything else, Cormoran continued, “It was in the family – it had been his mum’s – my gran’s. Not that I ever knew her.”

“Oh, Cormoran, that’s so special.” She watched as he pulled it out of its little box. “But won’t Lucy want it?”

“No, apparently Ted asked her about it, and she said he should keep it. She has lots of other things of Joan’s. I think she’ll be happy that you have it. You know she’s going to be completely chuffed about this – she’s been nagging me about how perfect you are for me practically since she first met you.”

Robin laughed. “It will be nice to have a sister here in London.”

Cormoran took Robin’s left hand in his. “I took it to be re-sized and they said it was very hard to do that with a channel-set ring like this. But oddly enough, when he checked the size from a ring of yours that I brought for comparison, he said it actually was your size.”

Looking up at him in surprise, Robin whispered, “So it was meant to be?”

“Apparently.” He watched her face as he slipped it on her ring finger. “Remember, though, if you don’t like it, we can get you something you prefer.”

“No, I love it – it’s perfect.” She smiled broadly, and raised her hand to admire the ring. It was so different from the sapphire and diamond ring that she’d worn for Matthew. How appropriate that it was connected to Cormoran’s family and history. And it rested on her hand gracefully, as if it was meant to be there.

She threw her arms around him again, whispering in his ear, “It’s exactly right. All of it.”

He tightened his arms around her, and murmured, “I love you.”

They could have stayed like that for hours, basking in the glow of the Christmas lights, holiday music, and their mutual love. But Robin recalled the task they had ahead. “Cormoran, we’d better get cracking – those presents won’t wrap themselves.”

“Ah, a little more time won’t hurt,” Cormoran replied, loath to let her go. “I’ve become something of an expert at wrapping presents now.”

Robin, thinking of all the delightful ways he’d presented his twelve days of Christmas, had to agree.

~~

The Gifts (most of which I found on Amazon.co.uk, with a couple of exceptions):

1\. [Partridge in a pear tree brooch ](https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/732437441/vintage-partridge-in-a-pear-tree-brooch):

[ ](https://imgur.com/EZ5RxXf)

2\. [Dove moisturizing bars](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002DUOOXO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?smid=A2PXEGOLFB4ZZ9&psc=1):

[ ](https://imgur.com/tidgOjG)

3\. [ French horn ornaments ](https://www.amazon.co.uk/French-Horn-10cm-Gold-Ornament/dp/B002Q7TUJC/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=french+horn+ornament&qid=1608813657&sr=8-3) for the office tree (something that we always had on our tree when I was growing up):

[ ](https://imgur.com/T4HoUXg)

4\. Business (“Calling”) cards in a [ blackbird business card holder ](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Azeeda-Blackbird-Business-Holder-CH00001464/dp/B0744T93NV/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=blackbird+business+card+holder&qid=1608812592&sr=8-6). Note: a “colly bird” was apparently a blackbird, so it was fun to find that they actually have one of these with a blackbird on it.

[ ](https://imgur.com/oTOoUkf)

[ ](https://imgur.com/aTUU4FO)

5\. [ Gold tone wrap cuff bracelet](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BZFP2HW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2VXC0F0K5YADY&th=1).  
(I wanted bangles, but could not find what I was looking for). This kind of goes with the engagement ring, so I thought it worked perfectly. Perhaps not really what Bobbi would wear, but it worked!):

[ ](https://imgur.com/WkXXuE6)

[ ](https://imgur.com/Od6qbOL)

6\. [ Egg Crème mask ](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Firming-Moisturizing-Wrinkle-Eggshell-Whitening/dp/B08CZBD7DH/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=egg+cream+mask&qid=1608811046&sr=8-3):

[ ](https://imgur.com/bGQF59J)

7\. [ Swans apron ](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Monbedos-Cooking-pattern-Aprons-Kitchen/dp/B07PYJZB59/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=swan+apron&qid=1608811647&sr=8-1):

[ ](https://imgur.com/7R22ksS)

There is also another lovely swan apron that I considered, but I went with this one because of the multitude of swans, its availability in the UK, and its polyurethane coating because I like those so much!: [Two Swans Apron](https://www.amazon.co.uk/DOMIKING-Kitchen-Pockets-Adjustable-Gardening/dp/B08FX6X9PZ/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=swan+apron&qid=1608811647&sr=8-3).

And if you are in the US and want a swan apron, and don’t need the PU coating, this one is delightful too: [Swan Lake Apron](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LD11GFH/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_8?smid=A2ZXUB2BP6TQZF&psc=1)

8\. [ Milk bath powder ](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Au-Lait-Milk-Bath-Powder/dp/B00NQ91T8E/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=milk+bath&qid=1608814838&sr=8-5)(in old-fashioned metal milk container):

[ ](https://imgur.com/BfRsuty)

9\. Ladies dancing – ballet ticket – to Swan Lake  
10\. Lords a leaping – ballet ticket – to Swan Lake  
The first is a photo from the 2014 production by the English National Ballet, which is a little earlier than my story takes place. I was inspired to use Swan Lake because when I was in London over the holidays in December and January of 2018-2019, there was another production of Swan Lake and the huge adverts were all over the Tube. They looked like the second photo below.

[ ](https://imgur.com/NNPVIQW)

[ ](https://imgur.com/TymWjrz)

11\. Pipers piping – relaxing flute music for the bath. [Bath Spa Oriental Flute](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bath-Spa-Oriental-Flute-Music/dp/B01N32MQ0G/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=flute+music+for+the+bath&qid=1608868501&sr=8-2).

[ ](https://imgur.com/dmD2k6i)

12\. Drummers drumming – [Nutcracker Holiday Treat Boxes](https://www.etsy.com/listing/559220471/nutcracker-holiday-treat-box-set-of-5?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=drum+gift+box&ref=sr_gallery-1-4&organic_search_click=1):

[ ](https://imgur.com/xiHNXYB)

[ ](https://imgur.com/FuB4Zbh)

[ ](https://imgur.com/7RclKT7)

And the ring: I was looking for something special, recalled Anne Shirley’s “circlet of pearls” in the Anne of Green Gables books, so was delighted when I found this, and it’s actually from the UK (it is also actually in my size, so I might be tempted to buy it, but it’s very pricey!). [Antique Pearl Ring](https://www.etsy.com/listing/820027026/antique-pearl-engagement-ring-victorian?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=antique+pearl+engagement+ring&ref=sr_gallery-1-48&organic_search_click=1&frs=1&cns=1):

[ ](https://imgur.com/r64hGy2)

[](https://imgur.com/uwb2MfA)

**Author's Note:**

> End Note: The actual 12 days of Christmas are marking the days from Christmas Day until Epiphany, January 6. Here is an article that explains the origin of the song: [12 Days of Christmas Explained ](https://www.vox.com/21796404/12-days-of-christmas-explained).
> 
> Thanks so much for reading -- and a Merry Christmas to all! Feedback is happily welcomed.


End file.
